Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T10:36:54.952Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

What happened to Homo habilis? (Language and mirror neurons)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 1998

Giacomo Rizzolatti
Giacomo Rizzolatti
Affiliation:
Instituto di Fisiologia Umana, Università di Parma, 43100 Parma, [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The evolutionary continuity between the prespeech functions of premotor cortex and its new linguistic functions, the main thesis of MacNeilage's target article, is confirmed by the recent discovery of “mirror” neurons in monkeys and a corresponding action-observation/action-execution matching system in humans. Physiological data (and other considerations) appear to indicate, however, that brachiomanual gestures played a greater role in language evolution than MacNeilage would like to admit.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , August 1998 , pp. 527 - 528
Copyright
© 1998 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)